Fractional CTO Services

Executive-level technical leadership without the full-time commitment

Overview

As your fractional CTO, we provide strategic technical leadership exactly when you need it, without the overhead of a full-time executive hire. We step into your organisation, assess the landscape, and lead technical delivery that aligns with your business objectives.

Hiring a full-time CTO is expensive ($200K-$400K+ annually) and time-consuming (3-6 months to hire). Meanwhile, critical decisions get delayed and engineering teams lack direction. Fractional CTO services bridge this gap immediately.

How We Deliver

We follow the CONSULTANT framework:

Observe Before Acting: We spend the first 2-4 weeks understanding your technology stack, team dynamics, development processes, and business objectives.

Build Trust Through Delivery: We lead by doing: making architectural decisions, reviewing designs, participating in sprint planning, and mentoring engineering leaders.

Document Decisions Clearly: Every major decision is recorded using Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), ensuring knowledge transfer and transparency.

Collaborate Cross-Functionally: We work closely with your entire leadership team, providing weekly syncs and monthly board-ready technology updates.

What You Get

• Strategic Technology Roadmap: Quarterly planning, infrastructure priorities, and build vs. buy recommendations
• Technical Leadership: Engineering mentorship, hiring support, team structure recommendations
• Architecture & Decisions: System design, technology selection, and documented ADRs
• Board Communication: Quarterly technology updates, due diligence support, investor communications
• Vendor Management: SaaS evaluation, contract negotiation, partner selection

Who It’s For

Growth-Stage Companies: Series A-C startups scaling from 10 to 100+ employees who need executive-level guidance but aren’t ready for a full-time CTO.

Technical Transitions: Organisations migrating to cloud, modernising legacy systems, or implementing DevOps practices.

Organisations Between CTOs: Companies needing continuity while searching for permanent leadership.

Companies With Technical Debt: Teams where engineering velocity is slowing and need a strategic approach to architectural improvements.

Engagement Model

Time Commitment: 8-16 hours per week (customizable) Duration: 3-12 month initial engagement (renewable) Investment: $8,000-$15,000/month

Activities include weekly leadership meetings, bi-weekly engineering sessions, architecture reviews, monthly board preparation, and ad-hoc strategic guidance.

Transition Support

Many organisations eventually hire a full-time CTO. We support this by helping define the role, participating in interviews, onboarding the new CTO, and facilitating knowledge transfer. Our goal is your long-term success.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different from consulting? Fractional CTOs provide ongoing strategic leadership, not project-based consulting. We become part of your leadership team and own technology outcomes.

Can you work with existing engineering leadership? Absolutely. We complement and mentor existing managers and tech leads, often coaching them toward CTO responsibilities.

Do you write code? When strategically valuable, yes: proof-of-concepts, architecture prototypes, or unblocking critical challenges. Our primary focus is strategic leadership.

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